Means for flowing wells



July 16, 1935. R. B. BRYANT MEANS FOR FLOWING WELLS Filed July 31, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l 4 zz A Boy 5. fi/yarv chroma,

July 1935. I R. B. BRYANT 2,008,172

MEANS FOR FLOWING WELLS Filed July 31, 193: 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I @5 4 A l4 Z2 5 Z6 z /5 Jig/3 gamma 1 6cm r; J5 ,5 Boy 5. flrya/v Patented July 16, 1935 h I .UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEANS FOR FLOWING WELLS Roy B. Bryant, Dallas, Tex. Application July 31, 1933, Serial No.- 683,026

2 Claims. (01. 103-233) This invention relates to new and useful im- Well casing which may have a well screen II at provements in methods and means for flowing its lower end. Asuitable casing head His mountwells. ed on top of the casing and closed so that gas One object of the invention is to provide a ay be pp d n the s Astring o tubing method of flowing an oil wellby utilizing the gas 3 s mo ted in th Casing and Suitably Packed 5 pressure in the casing above the oil level and at Ofi in the ad so as to a a as tig t lOint different stages or elevations, whereby the liquid w t in the tubing at each stage is elevated by the It is customary to Screw Sections of tubing gas pressure introduced at that particular stage. gether With Collars and I a utilized these v Another object of the invention is to provide collars in carrying out my invention, but t Same 10 a, flowing method for 11 w ll whereby a gas is not to be limited thereto. I mount a plurality pressure is bum; u i th casing by agitating of valves IS on certain of the collars, which I the oil and. gas mixture and separating a part have designated y the letters C a d of the gas therefrom, and then introducing the These Valves are b y Spaced apa o as to 15 built up gas pressure i t the tubing t n be located at'different'elevations or stages. Be- 15 4 ent stages or elevations to lift the'oil from the fore proceeding to describe t Valve in d point of introd tion, I wish to point out that the valve must have oer- A further object of th invention is t provide tain general features for carrying out the method.

a plurality of suitable valves mounted at differ It is customary to mount at least one of the em; 1 ti in t tubing and e so as to valves below the oil level and it is important to 20 operate t different graduated pressures; have the valves arranged so that the lower valve Still another object of the invention is to pro- Will Open at a much lower pressure than the upper i valve having a housing Structure so valve. When the gas pressure is built up in the ranged as l; t catch or hang in the easing casing above the oil level, the two upper valves A when the tubing is being run in or pulled out and B will Open and admit gas to the tubing w 25 and also which n not interfere with Swebbing elevate the fluid thereabove. As the gas pressure or pumping v reduces, the valve A' will close, leaving the valve A still further object oi the invention is to Bopn- Ihave Shown the valvesc andDassubprovide auxiliary means for up lying air or ga 'merged and is the pressure of the to the casing to build up an artifi ial pressure liquid will be sufficient to open the same, or at 30 for flo in the We in case it does not build least the lower valve, whereby the oil will enter up Sufficient gas pressure to flow itselh the tubing through at least one of the lower valves. A construction designed to carry out the inveh It will be seen that only gas will enter the valves tion will be hereinafter described, together with above the liquid levelibut as the liquidiS elevated other f ature f the invention the level in the casing will recede to the point 35 The invention will be more readily understood where it uncovers the Valve C and then h Valve. from a reading of the following specification and h thhihg is provided with cht'ofi Valve by ref rence to the accompanying drawings, in IS, which is closed in order to give the gas an which an example of the invention is shown, and opportunity to build up a pressure in the casing 40 wherein; in when necessary. 40

Figure 1 is a View of a well partly in section The particular valve which I have illustrated and partly in elevation equipped with valves made includes a cylindrical or tubular case I! having an in accordance with the invention elbow l8 integral with its lower end. The case Figure 2 is an enlarged view, partly in elevaiz 3 $3 3 welded to the i 9 :2 cofiar so a e e ow covers a por in e co ar '45 glrrllggllrrllcgnrzartly in sectlon, showing the valve arfor communigattifig y f t g tubing A plug 20 e is screwed in o e op o 6 case and this plug Flgure 3 is an enlarge? Vertical ,Sectlonal isprovided with an axial bore or duct 2|. The

of one of the valves and its mo intmg, plug carries a barrel 22, which depends there- 4 an enlargedhonzonta1 'f from and is of less external diameter than the 50 hohal taken on the hhe internal diameter of the case so as to provide a v space therebetween. The barrel has ports 23 Flgllle 5 S VieW 511111191 to g r 1, showing communicating with said space which in .turn another form of the invention. communicates with the elbow and the tubing In the drawings the numeral I0 designates a through the port l9. 55

A ball valve 24 is mounted in the barrel so as ball has a depending stem 25 telescoping into a tension disk 26 screwed into the lower end of the barrel. A coiled spring 21 is confined on the stem between the disk and the ball. By adjusting the nut, the tension of the spring is regulated and thus the valve may be set to open at any given pressure. A plug 28 is screwed into the bottom of the barrel against the disk for locking the same in its adjusted positions.

It is obvious that the greater the distance the fluid must be lifted, the greater the pressure of the gas must be to affect such lifting, and, therefore, by admitting more gas at different stages, a greater pressure may be built up. Reference is made to Figure 2, in which the bore 21 of each succeeding valve from the top to the bottom is made larger than the one above it, so that as the length of the lift increases the volume of the gas admitted will likewise increase. It is obvious that the elbows l8 projecting laterally of the casing ll will form guides for'engaging the casing and preventing the valves catching therein when the tubing is raised and lowered.

In Figure 5, I have shown the tubing l3 terminating above a packer 30. This packer is set above the screen II and a string of pipe 3| extends from the screen through the packer. This pipe extends a goodly distance up the casing, as is shown. A check valve 32 is connected in the pipe 3| near the bottom of the screen so as to prevent an abnormal pressure being exerted on the oil sands. When the gas pressure in the casing, i0 is reduced by escaping through the valves, oil discharged from the pipe 3| into the casing will release fresh gas, whereby a gas pressure is built up in the casing and the valves again operated. The oil level will be lowered and the upper end of the pipe 3| will be uncovered when the gas pressure has been reduced in the casing. The oil which flows from the pipe will collect in the casing above the packer, whereby it may be carried off throughthe lower valves C and D.

I have shown a valve 33 connected to the casing head l2. In case the well goes dead or loses its head of gas, compressed air or gas from an outside source may be admitted by opening the valve 33. By this means a gas pressure may be built up in the casing I0 and the well started to flowing. It has been found that when a well is once started flowing it will do so continuously. The valves act as boosters to admit gas to the tubing whenever necessary to lift the load. Their action is entirely automatic and they function when needed to maintain the flow. I

The number of valves used depends upon the depth of the well, as well as the pressure therein. While I have shown four valves, in practice ten or more may be used. Satisfactory results have been had by locating the valves at intervals of from to 300 feet, according to the liquid level and the depth of the well.

The description which has been given, recites more or less detail of a particular embodiment of the invention which is set forth as new and useful, however, I desire it understood that the invention is not limited to such exact details of construction, because it is manifest that changes and modifications may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I-claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A well flowing device comprising, a collar I for coupling in a string of well tubing, a tubular valve case connected to the collar at its lower end and having communication with the interior of said collar, a valve seat at the upper end of the case having an inlet, and a spring pressed valve mounted in the case for engaging the valve seat.

2. A well flowing device comprising, a collar for coupling in a string of well tubing, a tubular valve case connected to the collar at its lower end and having a communication with the interior of said collar, a valve seat at the upper end of the case having an inlet, and a spring pressed valve mounted in the case for engaging the valve seat, the valve case having an elbow projecting outwardly and forming a guide to prevent the valve catching, in the casing of a well.

ROY B. BRYANT. 

